Republican Army (East Bulgaria)
The Republican Army (републиканска армия) is the armed forces of East Bulgaria. The RA is divided up into the Land Forces of the Republican Army, Naval Forces of the Republican Army and Aerial Forces of the Republican Army. History Early histry The Republican Army was funded in Spetember 1944 and was the anti royalist force in the previous years. The RA allied with the Soviets. The army was involved in a number of border skirmishes from 1948 to 1952, repulsing several Greek attacks. In the meantime, during the rule of Todor Zhivkov, a significant military industrial complex was established, capable of producing armored vehicles, self-proppelled artillery, small arms and ammunition, as well as aircraft engines and spare parts. Bulgaria provided weapons and military expertise to Algeria, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Nicaragua, Egypt and Syria. Some military and medical aid was also supplied to North Korea and North Vietnam in the 1950s and 1960s. 1960s A special defensive line, known as the Krali Marko defensive line, was constructed along the entire border with Turkey in 1961. It was heavily fortified with concrete walls and turrets of T-34, Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks. In 1965 the Bulgarian DMZ was constructe dand it was a similar wall made that separated from West Bulgaria. In 1968 there were anti communist protests in Romania so on June 11 the Republican Army invaded the Republic to aid comrade Nicolae Ceausescu. In the north there was stiff resistance and soon Ceausescu was killed by rioters. The Republican Army sent in 50,000 more troops ans soon they were in controll of the whole country. Shortly after there were uprisings in Prague. East Bulgaria sent troops to assist the Warsaw Pact nations and fearing a similar revolt in Hunagry they occupied the eastern 1/4 of the country. 1970's During the 1970s the Air Force was at the apogee of its power, possessing at least 500 modern combat aircraft in its inventory. Training in the Bulgarian People's Army was exhaustive even by Soviet standards. The BPA operated an impressive amount of equipment for the country's size - 3,800 tanks, 2,500 armored vehicles, 3000 large caliber artillery systems, over 800 combat aircraft, 50 combat vessels, as well as 100 Scud missile launchers, 80 SS-23 launchers and hundreds of FROG-7 artillery rocket launchers. Land Forces of the Republican Army The land forces consist of about 250000 trained soldiers and 80000 reservists. They make up the bulk of the Army and are stationed around the country's borders, primarily near Europa and Hungary. As of February 9, they have been put on full alert on Europa's and Hungary's borders. Naval Forces of the Republican Army The Naval forces are the smallest branch of the army. There are about 65 vessels in service (the actual number is classified) of all types, from destroyers to patrol boats. Republican Marine Forces The Republican Marine Forces are the elite invasion unit of the Repulican Army. It consists of 20000 elite soldiers. Aerial Forces of the Republican Army The aerial forces are a large branch of the army. It consists of 32000 pilots and technicians, as well as 1000 fighter jets, 200 bombers and 250 helicopters. Category:East Bulgaria Category:Military